Our Team

All staff at Unity work tirelessly to provide the very highest levels of customer care. This is led by our Board & Senior Management Team (SMT).

For more information on the Board & Senior Management Team please click below.

The Board

Unity is led by voluntary Board Members who act in an unpaid capacity and are responsible for the governance of the organisation. The association's rules state that the Board can have up to 13 members and up to one third of the Board may be tenants. In addition, the Board may co-opt up to 5 persons. The Board currently meets on a quarterly cycle and is supported by a further cycle of committee meetings which address specific areas of the business.

If you are interested in becoming a Board member particularly if you are a tenant then please contact us.

Current Board members comprise;

Naheed Arshad-Mather MBE (Chair)
Naheed is a self employed consultant with 18 years experience in Higher Education. Naheed also has considerable experience of Local Government, the Criminal Justice System and the Voluntary and Community sector. Naheed currently chairs the BME VCS Regional Panel for Yorkshire & Humber, is a member of the Yorkshire & Humber Assembly, and is Deputy Chair of it's Sustainable Development Board. Naheed has been involved with Unity since it's inception, and joined the Board in 1993.
Karen Morley (Chair of Audit Committee and Corporate Services Committee)
Karen is currently employed by Pennine Housing 2000 Ltd as Assistant Director of Finance and is a member of their Senior Management Team. Previously Karen spent a considerable number of years employed by the Local Authority's Corporate Finance Directorate where she gained her CIPFA qualification as a graduate trainee and a number of years lecturing in accountancy at the local college. Karen joined the Board in 2003.
Michelle Anderson (Chair of Corporate Services Committee
Michelle joined the Board in 2006. Michelle works as a Programme Manager within the Regeneration Services of Leeds City Council's Environment & Neighbourhoods Directorate. Previously Michelle worked as the Director of The CASAC (Community Action & Support Against Crime) Partnership Limited for almost 9 years and before that spent 12 years working in housing management for two Leeds based Housing Associations. Michelle is also a JP, a Parent Governor and holds a MA in Public Policy & Management and a Professional Diploma in Housing Studies.
Peter Dickeson (Chair of Unity Enterprise Board)
Peter is Managing Director of an Architecture and Housing Consultancy which specialises in the social sectors. He was formerly a manager with a Housing Consultancy and before that he worked for 11 years as Head of the Development Services department for a large Housing Association. Peter was co-opted onto the Board in 1992, and became a full member in 1997.
Eric Bowen
Eric joined the Board as an Observer in 2003. Eric is the former Director of Housing & Environmental Health at Leeds City Council.
St Clair Brown
St Clair has been on the Board since 1997. He is a Youth Officer with Leeds City Council.
Anthony Graham (Tenant Board Member)
Anthony is a Director of a Leeds based Management Consulting company specialising in start-up and project management. Anthony graduated from UCC in 1998 and joined Heinz International where he spent two years working on a range of projects, principally in strategic procurement and IT. He later gained an MBA from the University of Leeds and went on to work in banking with one of the top performing UK High Street Banks for over five years. Anthony joined the Board in 2003.
Robert Pitt
Robert has been a member of the Board since 1987. He is employed as the Development Manager at St Anne's Housing Association in Leeds. Previously he worked as a Development Officer for a number of years at North British HA.
Jagdeep Singh Passan (Chair of Corporate Services Committee)
Jagdeep has been a member of the Board since 1997. He is currently employed as Operations manager for Stop Hate (UK) formally Leeds Racial Harassment Project. Previously he has worked as Head of Operations at Touchstone-Leeds for 7 years. He holds membership with the Home Office as an advisor on communities and the Working Group for the Diversity Forum. He has spearheaded initiatives in mental health locally, regionally and nationally and established a Drugs and Race Unit in Manchester.
Alex Sobel
Alex has been a member since September 2005, and also sits on the Unity Enterprise Board. Alex is a Developmental Manager for UnLTd-Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs and is currently running the Leeds LEGI scheme. Alex is an experienced Board Member in the charitable sector and in addition to Unity HA currently sits on the board of the West Yorkshire Learning Consortium and is a Governor at Chapel Allerton Primary School.
Jean Wilson (Tenant Board Member)
Jean works as Development Worker for the Neighbourhood Learning Project. Previously, she has worked at Technorth Early Learning Centre as Senior Trainer, and in Further and Higher Education in various capacities. Jean joined the Board in 2006.

There is a separate Unity Enterprise Board.

This is comprised of:

Peter Dickeson (Chair)
Gurdev Singh Dahele
Ali Akbor
Yasmin Hussain
Alex Sobel

Senior Management Team

The Board delegates day to day management of the association to the Chief Executive who works with a management team in achieving this. The senior members of the management team are:

Ali Akbor MSc CPFA Chief Executive
Parveen Sidhu BSc (Hons) Operations Director
Yasmin Hussain FCCA MBA Finance & Corporate Services Director
Phil Barnes BSc (Hons) Regeneration Director